Waterbury evening Democrat., 1887-12-07
By WILLIAM PITTENGER,
 MEMBER OF THE EXPEDITION.

Copyrighted, 1887, by War Publishing C.. N. Y.
 CHAPTER VII.
 TERRIBLE SUSPENSE.
 But where were we while this train was flying toward us! Lying still on the side track at the left hand of Kingston station, those agonies of suspense and intense al- formations of hope and fear which were harder to bear than all the exertions of Fuller and his companions The local freight train came as previously narrated, and had drawn down the road to let the extra follow it, and still give us room to haul out above. Long and tedious was the waiting But when we almost des- paired the extra came. But alas! on this train, also, was a red flag! On being questioned as to the meaning of another train, the conductor said that there were too many cars and too great load for one engine and that another section was made up, and would be along shortly. The de- lay for these two trains had already been little less than an hour; and here was a third train still blocking the road before us! How Andrews wished that he had taken the risk of running out in the face of the first extra and had tried to make, at least the station above! We could easily have succeeded. But now, in the absence of some telegraphic message-and no report was made to that office, while Andrews hardly thought it prudent to tel egraph for instructions!-it would be mad ness to run out between the two sections of a belated train. It was better to wait even if that entailed the risk of fight For this possibility Andrews made ready; he said to Knight:
 ''Go back and tell the boys, without attracting attention, that we have to wait for a train that is behind time, and for them to be ready to jump at the signal, if needed, and fight"
 Knight sauntered carelessly along down the train, just as if he was tired to death with waiting and did not know what to do with himself; and leaning against our car, without turning his head or eyes toward us, said in low tone which we heard perfectly:
 "Boys, we have to wait for train that is 0 little behind time, and the folks around are getting mighty uneasy and suspicious. Be ready to jump out, if you are called, and let them have it hot and fast.'' We did not know how many of the ''uneasy folks' there might be about; and so unbearable had become the sus- l pense of being shut up in that dark car, ! IAASA ASoA AhE CAC oOuuu O4 FOICCS OuIS1OC1 without being able to distinguish the | words or know what was going on, that a command to spring out and begin deadly strife would have been welcomed as q 1 relief, without much regard to numbers. We said we were ready; we had been ready at any time the last hour Still we carefully examined the priming of every revolver, and saw that reserve ammuni- tion was in pockets within easy reach. We did not intend, if it came to fight, to shoot at long range, but to close right in, where every shot would be deadly. l That we could, with the surprise of an | unexpected assault, and firing each time | to kill, have cleared the station of four times our number, have never doubted. Could any situation be imagined by poet or novelist more trying than that of this carload of Union soldiers shut up in the midst of Confederate trains
 But we were not called upon to quiet the ''uneasiness'' outside, (which was fully as great as Knight had described, in any such summary manner. Andrews played l his part with surpassing skill. The people around, and especially the old switch ten 1 der, began to grumble something about being sure that all was not right. A good l many questions were asked as to why 1 Fuller, with the regular train, was not along by this time, and why the superin- 1 tendent of the road at Atlanta had not sent notice of the powder train. Andrews answered each suggested question very briefly and plausibly, but without appear ing at all anxious about their opinion; grumbled little about the bad manage ment of a road that would allow it's track to be blocked at time like this, and gave accounts of himself in the camp of Beaure- gard with an air so confident and truthful that no one ventured to question him. think there was only one thing, aside from the dangerous delay, which he really dreaded. He kept very near the tele- graph office, and, without seeming to do so, closely watched the operator. The at tempt to telegraph any kind of message up the line would have probably brought on an immediate collision.
 Brown relates a curious little episode as occurring here. He noticed man who watched Andrews for Q short time, and then, when no one else was near, stepped close to him and handed him a large and seemingly we'll filled envelope. Andrews smiled and placed it in his vest pocket. Brown intended to ask about it, but more pressing business put it out of his mind. Probably this was an incident of Andrews contraband trade, and the package con- tained an order for goods, with the money to pay for them.
 Fuller and his party were now not many 7 miles away, and were making more rapid time toward us than had ever been made on that road before. But we knew noth- ing of that-supposed that we were still an hour ahead of any pursuit that could
 be imagined. We had been at this place one hour and five minutes! It seemed tC
 those shut up in the box car nearer half a day! and when the whistle of a train was
 heard, which fortunately for us was first
 from the north-not the pursuing trair
 from the south-it was about as welcome
 as the boom of Mitchel's cannon, witt which we expected to be greeted in tht
 evening when our work was done. This
 last extra camc up to tho platform as tht